Cup of Coffee
by dejectedxangel
Summary: After Syaoran confesses that he indeed does love Sakura, Meiling goes back to Hong Kong. With a new school and new friends, she almost forgets all about Syaoran and her broken heart. Almost.
1. A New Place

"Cup of Coffee" - Chapter One

By: dejectedxangel

Disclaimer: the talented people at CLAMP own Card Captor Sakura and all its characters. The band Garbage owns the song "Cup of Coffee".

Author's Note: Yes, I know, I know, another story when the other ones haven't been updated in ages --; I can't help it! Anywho, this takes place after Syaoran confesses to Meilin that he loves Sakura… or rather, that she tells him that he does, then leaves for Hong Kong again. I'm modifying the story a bit, so please bear with me --;

I'm not so sure about the names I'm using, but just so you know, I did some research online and this is what I got:

Haruko means First Born in Japanese.

Xing means Star in Chinese.

Genji and Jin both mean Golden in Chinese.

Sirata is the name of the school they're going to… I made it up while staring at a poster on my wall with a few bands on it and then spelling "Ataris" backwards. Hehehe!

Um.. yeah… on with the story! Remember, Read & Review folks!

* * *

The teacher walked into the oversized classroom, placing his suitcase on the cherry wood desk. Glancing up at the four desks in front of him, he tilted his head curiously, noticing the extra desk. Looking at the roster that lay next to his suitcase, he noticed an additional name added on with a ballpoint pen reading _Meiling Li_. 

As soon as the clock struck 8 'o' clock, he cleared his throat to get the attention of the students. The three sat up straight, paying full respect to their teacher.

"Class, it seems we have a new student joining us. Why she hasn't arrived yet, I do not know. I'm going to go check with the office, so please prepare your homework from last night while I'm away." With that, the teacher walked out of the classroom, shutting the door gently behind him.

"A new student in the middle of the semester?" asked a girl with cherry red hair held back in a ponytail and hazel colored eyes. The girl next to her shrugged, her identical cherry read hair falling back from her shoulders some as it was hanging loose.

"Kind of weird… I wonder if it's a guy!" she said, giggling and closing her own pair of hazel eyes. The student next to them rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Girls…" he muttered, taking out a stack of papers and placing them on his desk neatly.

"Oh shut up!" both girls said before bursting in a fit of giggles. Just then the door opened and they all sat up straight again, folding their hands over their desk.

"Class, I'd like you to welcome Meiling Li."

As he stepped aside and a girl with jet black hair in two buns with some hair flowing back down came into view. Her ruby red eyes were cast down slightly as she entered the class, dressed in the school uniform of a black skirt, white blouse, black tie and black sweater. Her sweater was actually wrapped around her waist, partly covered by her bright red messenger bag. The red haired twins smiled at her warmly and nodded in acknowledgement at her, causing her to look up and give a small smile back. The boy next to them, she noted, hadn't even noticed her come in, his jet-black hair in bangs, covering his eyes as he stared down at the papers on his desk. The teacher took a seat at his own desk as Meiling stood next to his desk.

"Tell us about yourself, Ms. Li."

She took a deep breath.

"I'm from Hong Kong originally, but I moved to Japan for a while with my cousin and went to school there. Due to certain circumstances, I came back to Hong Kong. I never really attended school here since I studied with my cousin under the guidance of a tutor. Since he stayed in Japan, I decided to go to an actual school here in Hong Kong instead of going back to a tutor."

"Interesting. You may take a seat next to Haruko over there," he nodded towards the empty desk next to the boy. The boy looked up upon hearing his name, deep blue eyes meeting ruby. She took graceful steps as she walked over to the desk and took a seat, taking out supplies for the workday.

"Haruko Xing," he stated simply to the girl beside him and she glanced up, her ruby eyes lighting up slightly.

"Meiling Li."

Just then, the teacher asked everyone to open their math books to the previously assigned page to review the homework. Pulling out her new book from her messenger bag, Meiling copied the work as the teacher explained it on the board.

* * *

Lunchtime came at midday and the teacher released the students, leaving the classroom. Meiling was still copying down the last of the notes off the board when two girls came up to her.

"Hiya!" they said cheerfully, causing Meiling to look up after having copied the last of the notes.

"Uh… hey.." she said meekly, looking at both girls. Before she could ask the question..

"We're twins," they said at the same time.

"I'm Jin Xing and she's Genji Xing," said the twin with her hair held back. They both bowed and Meiling stood up, bowing as she stated her name again.

"Xing?" she asked, glancing from them to the boy that had taken out his lunch and placed it on the desk.

"Haruko's our cousin. We grew up together!" she said as she teasingly ruffled his hair. He glared at her, his blue eyes darkening slightly. For some reason Meiling felt relieved at hearing they were related, but as she realized that a voice in the back of her head asked her, '_Why are you so relieved?_'

At that exact moment she glanced at Haruko to find his gaze fixed on her, a smirk on his lips. He immediately turned around, facing his food. The twins didn't seem to notice, however, and moved their desks with her and lunched together.

* * *

The clock struck four 'o' clock and the teacher once again released the students, only for home this time. Gathering her things, Meiling made her way to the door with Jin and Genji at either side of her. Not too far behind, Haruko followed them, his blue eyes glued on the back of Meiling's head. He listened to her every giggle as his cousins entertained her, noticing how her tone dropped when they asked her about Japan. As they exited the school, she told them her address and they smiled as they lived on the same street as she did. 

As the girls giggled at something Jin had pointed out, Haruko cleared his throat, causing the three beautiful heads to turn around and look at him.

"So, Li, how'd you get into Sirata?"

"Call her Meiling, Haruko! She already said we could call her by her first name," said one of the twins, nudging Meiling and causing her to smile in the process.

"Well, my aunt enrolled me," Meiling started, her ruby eyes meeting his blue ones. He smirked and shook his head.

"Sirata is for the most elite of students, both socially and academically. My cousins and I have been there since we were small and Sirata hardly ever admits anyone in after a certain age, let alone in the middle of a semester. It's really strange that they'd let someone in." As he spoke, he approached her, standing merely a foot from her. Their eyes were locked, emotionless, but locked all the same. Their gaze broke when a loud smack came from his arm. Haruko looked at his cousin with a pained expression. Meiling couldn't help but smile as she turned to Genji.

"Stop being rude, Ruki!" she said, taking Meiling by the arm as her sister did the same and they kept walking. Haruko stood behind for a few moments, glaring at them for a moment, as the pain from the smack dulled almost instantly. He sighed and started walking again, his thoughts on the ruby-eyed girl walking between his cousins. In the few seconds their eyes had been locked, he'd noticed something in them that left him quite disturbed. He shook his head, deciding to investigate it later, and walked faster to catch up with his cousins.


	2. A New Friend

Cup of Coffee - Chapter Two

By dejectedxangel

Disclaimer: the talented people at CLAMP own Card Captor Sakura and all its characters. The band Garbage owns the song "Cup of Coffee". The conversation between Syaoran and Meiling I got at KawaiiSakuraShrine (dot) com , an awesome Cardcaptors / Card Captor Sakura shrine with all sorts of goodies.

Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing. Hehehe, I have an eeeeevil little plan for this story.. mwee hee hee! Oh yeah, I haven't seen the second CCS movie, so if something's missing in this story, don't be annoyed. Hehe. Also, I haven't seen all the episodes, so if some information is wrong, I'm sorry ;

* * *

Meiling took a deep breath as she stepped outside of the Li mansion. Walking through the lavish garden, she made her way to the front gates and walked outside. She had just finished her homework load and it was still pretty early in the afternoon, so she decided to take a walk and explore the neighborhood she had grown up in. During her time here when Syaoran was around, she had always spent every second with him either training, studying, or running errands. She had never actually been alone during walks since she had her mini-warrior of a cousin around. She sighed as the image of the chocolate-eyed boy who'd stayed back in Japan flooded her mind.

"Meiling I.I have someone I love."

"Kino..moto-san?" "How did you..? " "I knew you loved her when you called her "Sakura" today. Your sisters and I were the only girls you called by their first names. Well, I guess our engagement is off. Well, I'm going to Daidouji-san's house and leave from there." 

"Meiling.."

Meiling glanced up from the ground, finding herself in a park. She blinked, tears forming in her eyes and blurring her vision slightly. She saw a bench a few feet away and went to it, taking a seat. Bringing her hands to her face, she rested her elbows on her knees, taking in a deep breath. She released it in a sigh as she covered her eyes, the tears spilling freely now.

'I can't make him love me and he loves _her_… he's happy with her and I'm happy for her… then why does it hurt so much?'

She was too deep in her misery to notice someone take a seat next to her. As her tears dried, she took a deep breath again and released it, releasing her emotional agony. 'Nothing like a good cry every once in a while,' she thought to herself before frowning. She felt a draft as the person next to her moved and kneeled before her. Taking her face away from her hands, her ruby eyes were still blurred as she saw the dark messy hair before her.

"S.. Syao-kun?"

As she blinked, her vision cleared and her ruby eyes were met with blue and she saw that the dark hair was a lot darker than the brown she knew, but rather a shade of jet black.

The boy brought his hand to her chin and tilted her head up more to see more of her face. His blue eyes darkened as his tone turned serious and his hand went to her shoulder.

"Who hurt you?"

She blinked and stared at him blankly.

"No one… I just decided to sit in the park for a while, that's all."

"I don't mean physically," he said, his eyes turning a slightly darker shade again. As their gaze locked again, she felt her muscles relax. The park seemed to not be there as she stared into his eyes, something about them making her block out everything else. It wasn't until he looked away, shaking his head and blinking a few times that she snapped out of it.

"S-sorry about that," he whispered, hanging his head in shame.

"You… you have magic, don't you?"

He looked up at her.

"Look, you tell me what I want to know and I'll tell you all you want to know… deal?" he asked, giving her a small smile.

She smiled back at him and nodded. Taking a seat next to her, he patiently listened to her.

It only took a couple of minutes to her to explain to him about Syaoran, their engagement, their promise, and what he said when she came back to visit Japan. Just as she felt herself tearing up again, he hugged her comfortingly and she felt calm. His story, however, took a lot longer and by the time he had finished, the sun had already set.

"It's a bit strange… it's almost like our families are mirrors of each other, except instead of you being the only one around without magic, you were born with it while nobody else has it…"

He smiled and nodded. Looking up at the sky, the stars blinked down at them.

"I'll walk you home," he said, offering her his arm. She blushed, taking it and walking away.

It wasn't long before they stopped in front of the Li gates.

"If you ever need to talk about it… I'm right next door," he said, smiled, turned around and walked to the next gate. Meiling stood there, frozen for a moment, before walking back inside.

She wore a small smile on her lips as she came up to the door. Surprisingly, her aunt (and Syaoran's mother) was standing in the doorway. Meiling bowed upon noticing her, apologizing for coming home late. Her aunt simply smiled at her softly.

"I'm glad you've made friends with Xing family, specifically that Haruko boy… just remember you're already engaged to my son."

Meiling swallowed for a second, then looked up at her aunt.

"You mean, Syaoran hasn't told you?"

Her aunt's eyes narrowed and her smile faded.

"Told me?"

"I.. I think it's better if he told you…"

"Very well then." She said and as simply as that, the conversation ended.


	3. Popping The Question

**"Cup of Coffee" - Chapter 03**

**Disclaimer:** the oh-so-talented people of CLAMP own Card Captor Sakura and all its characters. The band Garbage owns the song "Cup of Coffee".

**Author's Note:** Decided to update... the wheels in my head are turning, hehe! Read and Review, folks!

Oh yeah... Mei-mei is the twins' nickname for Meiling. Why? They gave Haruko a nickname... why not Meiling too? Hehehe.

* * *

It was a sunny Saturday and Genji, Jin, Meiling and Haruko had decided to hang out after a week of being bombarded with surprise quizzes. It was no surprise that they were at the local park, having a wonderful time. 

Meiling laughed as the swing rose in the air, her legs dangling and her hands gripped tightly on the swing chains. At each side of her sat Genji and Jin, each equally happy as their seats rose in the air. Meanwhile, Haruko had a faint blush on his cheeks from the exercise of pushing his cousins and friend behind them. Just as one girl had been pushed, the second came down and as soon as she was gone, the third came down, followed by the first, second and third.

"Girls," Haruko managed to say between breaths, "I'm really getting tired now!"

The girls laughed.

"Ruki, honey, this helps you build muscle to become the big, strong boy you need to be to protect us girls!" yelled Genji, the more bold of the twins.

Haruko rolled his eyes and pushed her harder, causing her to almost lose grip of the swing. She squealed with laughter and swung her legs back, almost kicking him in the process.

The cycle repeated until finally the twins felt like buying some ice cream.

"Ruki, Mei-mei?" they turned as they got off the swings, noticing Haruko still pushing Meiling. As her swing came down, he grasped it firmly and held it in front of him, both of them looking at the twins.

"Don't you guys want some ice cream?" asked Jin, reaching up and tightening the ponytail that held her hair. During the swinging it had loosened slightly.

Meiling look up at Haruko who shrugged, then looked at them again.

"Nah, I think we'll just stay here... not really in the mood for ice cream."

The twins shrugged and went on their way. Taking advantage of the empty seats, Haruko took a seat next to Meiling, swinging slightly as he stared at the ground. From that angle, he resembled Syaoran in such a strange way Meiling felt her heart break just a bit more, causing her to frown slightly. Almost as if sensing this, Haruko turned to look at her, leaned in and poked her in the ribs.

"You know, you're a lot prettier when you smile."

Meiling couldn't help but smile at him as a faint blush lit her cheeks. As she turned her head to hide it, she watched the twins walk away in the distance, then turn some corner in search of an ice cream place.

"So do your cousins know about your magic?"

"No, my parents thought it should be kept a secret."

"Oh."

A few moments of silence passed.

"Meiling," he asked with a soft voice, using her full name rather than the pet name his cousins had given her. She turned around and faced him.

"Yes?"

It took a moment of looking at her for Haruko to process what he wanted to say in his mind.

"Never mind."

Another moment of silence.

"Mei-"

"Yes?"

"You were expecting that, weren't you?"

She smiled.

"No, expecting the unexpected," she said, a yellow, talking stuffed animal floating around in her mind, causing her to giggle slightly. Haruko dropped his shoulders, which he hadn't realized he had tensed until that moment, and relaxed at her amusement.

"Good to know that about you," he said, then a bit more quietly, "Very good indeed..."

She tilted her head curiously at him.

"What were you going to ask me, Ruki?" She watched his head perk up a bit as she used his pet name. He stared at the ground for a moment, bit his lip, and then looked up at her with a hopeful expression.

"Would you... like to learn how to use magic?"

* * *

DejectedxAngel: Yeah, I cut it off here... see, I have to go to bed now and just wanted to write some more for the sake of writing. Keep reviewing, people! And thanks to my reviewers for reviewing so far. Yes, I do have a bit of an evil plan for this story... stay tuned! 

And I apoligize for making it such a short chapter... I usually write more than this, I think o.0

_To kuroi-sakurapetals_: Yeah, I feel sorry for Meiling too. I mean, she's pretty, strong willed, and pretty cool. I hate it when people make her out to be a negative person whom we have a variety of foul words for. I mean, what did she do wrong? She only loved the boy and I've seen worse cases of obsession over your one and only in a high school classroom. Thanks for reviewing!


	4. She Glows

**"Cup of Coffee"- Chapter 04**

**Disclaimer:** the oh-so-talented people of CLAMP own Card Captor Sakura and all its characters. The band Garbage owns the song "Cup of Coffee".

**Author's Note:** Man it's been a while… gomen nasai, reviewers. (Did I say that right?)

_To Xiao-Mao:_ Thanks for the plushie!

_To Ah-Choo: _She didn't learn magic… as you will see in this chapter, he was merely asking her if she wanted to learn.

_To Onigiri: _I used to call her Meilin too but when I visited kawaiisakurashrine (dot) com, a lot of the references to her spelled it "Meiling", so for the sake of the story and because of my trust in the information the webmistress of the site has, I used Meiling.

_To Livi:_ Thanks for reviewing! I'd forgotten about this story, actually ; But I'm back to updating it!

* * *

"What were you going to ask me, Ruki?" She watched his head perk up a bit as she used his pet name. He stared at the ground for a moment, bit his lip, and then looked up at her with a hopeful expression. 

"Would you... like to learn how to use magic?" he asked, his eyes locking on hers again but not changing into that darker shade.

"Haruko, I told you, I don't have a drop of magical blood in me," she stated, lifting her wrist and looking at her vein for a moment before turning to look at him again. It was true; she'd been born into a family where everyone had at least some magical ability, but she'd been born perfectly normal. Her cousin Syaoran, the future leader of the Li clan, could use elemental attacks with his sword and ward papers. What could she do?

Just then, Haruko stood up, stepped in front of her and took her hand. Tracing his finger over the vein, it seemed to pulse along with her heartbeat, pressing against the skin and retracting. A need to defend arose in Meiling and she immediately jumped off the swing, taking a fighting stance. In a moment, she released it upon realizing what she was doing.

"You're a fighter," Haruko started, putting his hands in his pockets, "and it takes a certain energy level and discipline to react that quickly. Yet just now you broke the stance almost as quickly as you took it, showing your ability to retract just as fast."

"So?"

"So," he said, taking a step closer to her, "magic is a lot like fighting. It takes practice, energy and discipline to master."

"But why would you want to teach me?"

He sighed and took his hands out of his pockets, placing them on her shoulders.

"Do you know how frustrating it is to not be able to share what I know with someone? In your family, you have some of the strongest members of the magical community right in the next room while I have no one. Not everyone is born with magic naturally, and the path to learning it is a bit difficult… but for someone who already has the self control for it like you," he said, cupping her cheek with his hand, "it should be a piece of cake."

* * *

Genji and Jin walked together down the street, each with an ice cream cone. Genji had a strawberry cone while Jin chose the cherry. As they approached the park they had left earlier, they noticed Haruko's and Meiling's absence from the swings. 

"You know, I've been thinking…" said Genji as she took a quick lick of the strawberry ice cream.

"What?"

"Ruki and Mei-mei seem to be getting along pretty well," she said, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, they do."

Genji's small smile grew into a broad grin.

"So… you do know that the Carnival is coming to town, right?"

"The one we saw advertised at the Ice Cream Parlor?"

She nodded. Then they both broke in grins.

"It'll be here next weekend…"

"Then we should help Mei-mei and Haruko get ready for it!"

With a few giggles, they continued on their way home, completely oblivious to two pairs of eyes watching them. Just as they turned the corner and went down the street, the two pairs of eyes appeared, one set ruby and one set blue. In an instant, the bodies of those eyes appeared as well, Haruko's arms wrapped around Meiling.

"Ruki, what did you do?" asked Meiling, releasing the breath she'd been holding as the twins passed by. Haruko laughed for a few moments and suddenly she found herself laughing too.

"Nothing that you can't do without a couple of lessons, Mei-mei," he replied, turning her to face him and smiling as she blushed when he used the nickname his cousins had given her. "Do we have a deal?"

Meiling looked back at the retreating twins, who had not even noted their presence when they were no more than four feet away from where they had passed, then met those blue eyes with her ruby ones.

"Yes."

Haruko's smile broadened as he leaned in and hugged her. Meiling felt her heart skip a beat and found herself hugging him too. After about a minute, they let each other go.

"So what was that about a carnival that the twins mentioned?" asked Meiling, recalling it. Haruko grinned and shook his head.

"They're planning something so don't be surprised if it turns into a big event for them."

"Alright," she replied.

* * *

"Meiling…" 

The voice broke through Meiling's thoughts as she cut up some strawberries for a snack. She turned her head as her eyes met with her cousin's, one of Syaoran's sisters.

"Yes?" she replied sweetly.

"You're glowing."

"I am?" Meiling looked down at herself quickly, the blood having drained from her face. In the two seconds she did so, a blur of thoughts went through her mind.

"No, silly.. you're glowing, in a sense. Your aura's not as dim as it was when you came back from Japan and, well.. I could sense your presence a bit farther than where I usually can. Good to see you cheered up," she said, smiled and walked away. As soon as she'd left the room, Meiling sighed in relief and turned back to her strawberries. The words her cousin had just spoken to her repeated again in her mind.

Gathering the strawberries into a bowl, Meiling brought them to her room where she set them on her desk, then turned and glanced at the mirror nearby. Bringing a hand to her cheek, she stared and then looked back at her desk, noticing a picture to the left of where she'd placed her strawberries. She glanced at it, where she was standing among a circle of her cousins and aunt, for the picture. It had been taken the day she returned to the Li mansion after having spent so much time in Japan. Her eyes looked hurt, her features were stiff and her lips in a tight line. Glancing back at her reflection, she smiled, then upon realizing she'd smiled so easily, couldn't stop herself from smiling.

'Life had a way for making up for the bad things,' she thought to herself, and that was that.

* * *

_**Author's Notes**_

**DejectedxAngel:** I was reading over the previous chapters and got to a comment I wrote where I said I had evil plans for the story. Then I thought 'what could possibly be evil enough to- ohhhh… hehehehehe". I know it's been ages and sorry doesn't make up for it, but school and current events in m'life make it hard to update. A bit over one thousand words… that's what I'm aiming for with my chapters now. Anywho, read and review folks!


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